Nothing. Neither had Taylor. Neither changes the fact that Pavlik hasn't done jack at 168 or any weight for a long time. Its a fight that will sell and make money due to Pavlik still being a name but its serves little to no relevance in the career of Ward.
And there you state the reason Pavlik deserves the fight. It is a money making business and earned his name honestly.
No I state the reason the fight would happen. Pavlik having earning potential does not equate to deserving a shot at one of the top P4P guys. Ricky Hatton could put tens of thousands of backsides on seats on either side of the pond does that mean he deserves a shot at say Floyd ?
Pick any fight you like where a washed up fighter that can generate money gets a shot at one of the top guys. Hatton being as popular as he is was an obvious example.
Like I can't come up with a ton of fights that guys got based on their names after moving up a division? Okay. You obviously win. Not that some of those guys didn't win fights or be competitive when no one expected them to. But okay. You win. I'm sure the sanctioning bodies and commissions will nix this if you tell them too.